Movie Review: 'Chronicle'

Chronicle Starring Dane Deehan, Alex Russell, MichaelB. Jordan Directed by Joss Trank Rated PG-13

Yup, it’s another found footage movie.  But this time it came at the price tag of 15 million dollars, so they don’t exactly have the whole “no money” excuse for using the format.   Does the quality of the film let us overlook the tired format, or are you going to be rolling your eyes at just how obsessed those characters seem to be with that camera?

Chronicle stars Dane Dehaan as Andrew, an introvert among introverts.  He’s the one who buys and, for the most part, uses the camera that acts as our view into most of what happens.  Forced to deal with his home life (a drunk father who is an exaggerated version of pretty much every drunk father in every movie), and bullies at school, he uses the camera as a barrier from the outside world. When his cousin and only friend Matt (Alex Russell) convinces him to come to a nearby rave, he joins up with Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and discovers a mysterious crater.  Inside, the three find a mysterious crystal, and three weeks later, they have telepathic abilities capable of stopping a baseball.  A bit later, they can move cars.  Eventually, their abilities get strong enough that they’re flying around, dodging airplanes.  This power isn’t something that they have the discipline to handle, however, and as emotions run high, things start to get out of control.  You don’t get any awards for guessing just who goes crazy with power.

Where the film succeeds is character interactions.  Andrew is an outcast, Matt is the pretentious one who reads philosophy for fun, and Steve is the popular kid running for class president.  They come from different circles, but what happens to them forms a bonding that, thanks to some natural acting from all three leads, feels sincere.  They treat their powers like a new fast car, taking it as close to the limit as they can.

One thing that continually acts as a distraction is the use of the camera.  The simple problem is that the characters, especially Andrew, seem far more connected to using it then they realistically could be, and they use it in situations where it wouldn't make sense for them to use it.  Wouldn't they be drawing just a bit of attention to themselves if they had it out in the open while playing pranks?  They attempt to weave it into his character, but it ultimately feels like just one of the many things that turns into over-the-top absurdity.  With the budget they had, I wish they had gone for a regular format, especially since the film finds ways of basically cheating the concept later one.

The third act is where the film falls apart.   It’s at this point that the interesting development stops, and the characters (or, more accurately, one in particular) changes from a nuanced human being into a Dragon Ball Z villain empty of any depth or interest.  Imagine taking the first two thirds of The Breakfast Club and combining it with even more over-the-top the ending of Star Wars Episode III, and you have the kind of idea of what it feels like.  It’s unfortunate, because the lack of a solid, believable resolution manages to pollute and make the effective development earlier in the film less effective.

I was actually a bit conflicted as to what score to give this.  I’d put it at a solid 2.5/5, but our scale doesn’t really allow for that.  With all the positive scores I’ve been giving out lately, I’ve decided to play the cynical jerk and round down, but this doesn’t it’s a bad movie.  It’s more like a good movie with pretty strong flaws.  It's worth a rental if the concept intrigues you.

Comments

[Orinn]

Sorry to nit pick, but here comes the geek correction.
"telepathic abilities" telepathic is the ability to read minds, the word you want is telekinetic , thats the ability to move objects with your mind.